The Rural Voice, 1999-06, Page 66BRUCE
Email: bruce@ofa.on.ca
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Farmers by the BCFA.
Bruce County still dry with politicians' hot air compounding the problem
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture.
Election season is on us once
again, and along with it comes the
slick commercials and staged
presentations intended to sway the
undecided votes hither and yon.
You may have guessed from this
description that I have a somewhat
cynical opinion, not so much of
politicians, but of the political parties
themselves. To prepare voters for the
upcoming election and those who
will attend all -candidates' meetings,
here is an unbiased (at least I think so
anyway) breakdown of the policies
for agriculture and rural Ontario of
the three parties I have information
on. At least that was the intent of the
article until I reviewed the party
platforms.
The Progressive Conservative's
mention rural healthcare page 25;
improving highways and promoting
tourism in rural areas on Page 49; and
agriculture and food on Page 50 of a
52 page "Blueprint".
The New Democratic Party
platform paper of 15 pages does not
mention rural Ontario or agriculture,
although they do have a community -
minded farm -based candidate in this
Riding.
The Liberals seem to have done
their homework with a 13 -page
policy paper specifically targeted to
rural Ontario covering nine topics
including Risk Management and
promoting a strong voice for
agriculture.
The Family Coalition Party also
has a candidate with a strong
community involvement and farm
background, but, I have no policy
information on the party.
Since agriculture is the second
Use the Whole Farm Relief program
How does a government know a
program they have designed does or
does not work? By the amount of
whining or complaints, or lack of
participation, or from accurate
figures submitted by the targeted
recipients. The answer seems fairly
obvious.
The Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture is encouraging ALL
farmers to complete the WFRP
application whether or not you think
you qualify and send the completed
form in regardless of your result.
This is the only way administrators of
the program can determine if it is
doing what it was intended to do. The
application form can be completed
without professional help since there
is no point in spending money if you
aren't going to see a return. Possibly
a neighbour or friend with accounting
skills could help complete the
application form.
Because of their price cycle beef
producers do not seem to be
benefiting from the program, even
62 THE RURAL VOICE
with the severe drought results
factored in. Thus they have dubbed it
the "Hole Farm Relief Program".
Disaster is supposed to trigger this
support, but for beef producers the
length of their price cycle needs to be
addressed to make this program work
the way it was intended.
BCFA encourages you to
participate in the process or risk
losing the program. Our latest
information is that $15 million has
been distributed to Ontario farmers of
the $30 million allocated.0
BRUCE COUNTY
FEDERATION OF
AGRICULTURE
Directors' Meeting
Monday, June 28, 1999
8:00 p.m.
OMAFRA Boardroom, Walkerton
Members are welcome to attend
largest industry, reviewing these
policy papers has been a
disappointment if this is how the
majority of the parties deem the
importance of agriculture and rural
communities.
However, there must be more to
their platform than what I have
information on, thus,_I am in no
position to promote a specific party
or candidate and have no intention of
doing so. I would encourage people
to get out and question the candidates
to determine for themselves who they
want to support. -Remember we
deserve the government we vote for
so please ensure they are worthy of
the vote you give them.0
— Submitted by Murray Clark
BCFA President
Food banks need
meat
The Salvation Army has informed
the Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture of a need for meat at
their food banks. Livestock
producers interested in donating meat
can call Laurie at 364-3450 in
Hanover for more details. It is
possible that arrangements can be
made to have the cutting and
wrapping costs covered so that
producers wishing to donate need not
incur any out-of-pocket expenses.0
ALL CANDIDATES'
MEETING
Huron -Bruce Riding
Monday, May 31, 1999
8:00 p.m.
Royal Canadian Legion, Lucknow
Sponsored by Bruce and Huron
Federations of Agriculture
Your opportunity to meet and
question the candidates on
agriculture issues and concerns